b'DIGITAL MARKETINGrevenuethreshold,whichmadeitoptimization, or SEO. People want togrant. Theyre trained on different much easier. ensure that their business can be foundplatforms like Shopify and Square. online, notes Ducharme. Advertising,They help [businesses] set up their Forasmallbusiness,investingpromotion,andimplementingane-commerce platforms, advise them of $2,400 towards digital adoption cane-commerce platform that is secure aretheir options, and provide general advice definitely help.common uses.on how to grow their business digitally, Ducharme says . So, how exactly are businesses usingAccesstoe-commerceadvisorsis these funds? One of the most popularanother beneficial CDAP support thatCCAB is helping tailor the program to and beneficial tools is search enginejust may be worth more than the cashfit the needs of its Indigenous member entrepreneurs. Our partners are training Indigenous youth to help these busi-nesses. They advise them on digital adoption and help them set up their websites and e-commerce platforms, says Ducharme. The program is building digital capacity and skillsets among Indigenous youth. My colleague meets with the e-commerce advisors every week, and its quite heart-ening. The advisors are Indigenous and working across the country, explains Ducharme. Its a great learning experi-ence for them. They get work experience and hopefully they will continue on the digital career path.CDAP is a three-year program, and CCAB aims to help at least 1,500 Indigenous businesses by its third year-end. We have over 60,000 Indigenous entrepre-neurs in Canada. Some of them are very comfortable with where they are in the digital space. But at CCAB, were looking for businesses that want to grow and expand their market reach. The biggest thing we advocate for is helping our busi-nesses set up a website so that they can be found online, says Ducharme.When it comes to supporting Indigenous business owners in the digital marketing and e-commerce space, programs like those through CCAB, ISED, as well as EY Canada, are providing practical supports that truly help put businesses on the digital map. But there is one key issue 75 YEARS AND STILL GOING impacting many Indigenous entrepre-neurs that must be rectified to ensure STRONG. full e-commerce engagement. B&B Contracting is proud to be a Internet connectivity for Indigenous member of the CCAB and is communities still lags behind the rest committed to maintaining strongpartnerships with Indigenous of Canada, points out Ducharme. Some communities.communities have very spotty or nearly non-existent connections. Thats one of the biggest barriers that our businesses WWW.BBCONTRACTING.COM SERVING THE LOWER MAINLAND INFO@BBCONTRACTING.COMAND ACROSS BRITISH COLUMBIA have. And until we fix that, businesses are going to struggle.44A CCAB PUBLICATION2023'